Rooting out best wireless plans

What: Root Wireless, Bellevue

Who: Paul Griff, 46, CEO and co-founder

Mission: Map out wireless-service quality, so consumers can choose best-performing wireless plans for a specific area.

Shiny object: Many consumers will gravitate to the latest cool tool, like the iPhone, but Griff thinks the majority of customers base purchase decisions on performance. Root Wireless already has mapped eight major markets — including Seattle — and displays a "Root scores" for how networks perform. It rates AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint networks, using BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Android devices. Missing for now: the iPhone.

Net gain: In the first phase, company workers walked neighborhoods using smartphones equipped with mapping apps. For the rest, the company recruited users to do the legwork, helped by a background app to map and store network details. Using aggregate data, Root can provide up-to-date charting of available wireless resources.

Buying blind: Griff said customers don't always know how a phone will work in the field, leading to a tremendous number of returns. Root can decrease that rate by providing data predicting the strengths and weaknesses of a network.

Employees: 9

Financials: The company recently closed a Series B $3.25 million financing round. Its planned revenue sources are revenue sharing and subscriptions, with profitability projected for late 2010.

Fair warning: Root maps can be used to benefit customers and customer service. "We want to tell users about how good quality is and what to expect if they sign up for a particular network" Griff said. "In many cases, a dead spot can make an entire network unacceptable to a customer."

— Charles Bermant